One of the most eye-opening trends of the past few Major League Baseball seasons has been the successful transition of a number of veteran relievers to starting pitchers.
The first recent example came in the 2023 season with Seth Lugo, who finally got a chance to start with the San Diego Padres and posted a 3.57 ERA before becoming a Cy Young contender with the Kansas City Royals. The Padres went back to the well with Michael King and watched the former New York Yankee post a 2.95 ERA in 30 starts and finish seventh in the National League Cy Young Award voting. And though he wore down towards the end of the season, Jordan Hicks turned in a 2.82 ERA through his first 15 starts with the San Francisco Giants.
If spring training is any indication, the next pitcher to make a successful conversion will be New York Mets right-hander Clay Holmes. The former Yankee closer has been one of the most consistent relievers in baseball over the past three seasons, posting an ERA below 3.14 each season and making a pair of All-Star teams. The Mets, however, thought there was still something more in the tank, inking him to a three-year, $33 million to join their starting rotation.
With the obvious caveat that it has only been three spring training starts, Holmes has looked the part of a front-line starter. The 32-year-old has turned in 9.2 scoreless innings and struck out 13 batters against just two hits. Along the way, he has displayed a revamped repertoire that has made ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel believe he will be one of baseball’s breakout stars in 2025.
“The recent trend of career relievers turning into starters in the middle of their big league careers looks like it will continue with Holmes,” wrote McDaniel. “He’s a top-tier tinkerer and optimizer of his pitches, and his bag of cutting-edge tricks (kick changeup, seam-shifted wake sinker, etc.) in a new role might make him look like a different pitcher this year than the reliever we saw with the Yankees.”
The fact that Holmes has added two new intriguing pitches to compliment his already lethal slider/sweeper combination creates optimism that he has the tools to face a lineup multiple times. With fellow starters Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas already hitting the shelf, the Mets desperately need someone to step up at the top of the rotation, and thus far, Holmes has looked up to the task.
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